AIC, 1988 - AIC Associazione Italiana Autori della Fotografia ...

AIC
The first time 1 worked on a film as
assistant Costume Designer, was on
"La Luna", directed by Bernardo
Bertolucci. And what a coincidence,
the principal female character was a
famous soprano! So, there I was back
in the world of Opera, but this time
seen through the eyes (all-seeing) of the
camera. Apart from the encounter
being both lucky and fortuitous, and
its taken place in a world whose
emotions and symbolism were familiar
to me, 1 discovered the infinite
possibilities of expression offered by the
cinema, the infinite freedom the
director had — augmented in every way
by the technical equipment, capable of
getting around every problem — and,
lastly, how very differently the sets,
costumes and light were used.
I remember the first screenings 1
attended as one of the troupe, and the
incredible feeling 1 experienced when I
realized that the camera did, in fact,
reveal all, even the most hidden part of
a secret emotion, fixing it in a
particular time and space, so that the
audience's attention was concentrated
on that and nothing else. I also
remember my astonishment when I saw
forgotten details, mistakes that weren't
visible to the naked eye, and prominent
elements that had not been exploited,
or had been over exploited: in short, it
was a completely new and different
language to be teamed.
And yet, the costumes, the colours and
the forms had all been under control
while se were shooting, crafted
according to the traditions and
rhythms of the past, which have very
little in common with the advanced
technology of the present!
I sought to further understand and
explore the relationship between light,
space and colour, realizing that 1 now
also had to take movement and a
different use of light — photography —
into consideration.
Notwithstanding the fact that the
people collaborating with the Director
all participate equally in the film, it is
the photography and all the processes
involved (printing, colour adjusment
etc.) that is responsible for the way in
which the image is realized figuratively,
as it fixes it permanently on film. 1
think that I have been able to
establish the same magical 1 have with
the music in Opera with the light in
Cinema, a relationship which is a
constant search for harmony, a
combining of visual messages, and
organizing them and communicating
them to the public, in a way that
sometimes takes precedence over the
spoken word.
The light both masks and reveals,
accentuates colour, sets off a form; it
punctuates the narrative with
"accents", according to the concept
that has been evolved, as it is ideas
and content that are essential to any
film, that actually carry it.
Thus, the Costume Designer's work,
like that of the Set Designer, has to
express the same concept as the
photography — if it didn't it would be
"Simon Boccanegra" G. Battiato
"Attila" di G. Montaldo
"I Paladini" di G. Battiato
as absurd as the Director ignoring the
story line! In fact, these three aspects
of the work are interdependent — both
from a formal and structural point of
view — and they go to create a product
which has a precise identity, unlike
any other.
Which only goes to demonstrate just
how important a contribution the
Director's individual collaborators
make, not to mention the thousand
other elements that are part of the
great Cinema machine!
The costumes in a film lead a kind of
duel existence: on the one hand, they
are granted eternal life by their being
fixed on film; and on the other, as
threads in the tapestry of the complete
film, they embark on both a wonderful
and perilous journey during which a
series of "events" over which they have
no control (the way the take is filmed,
the take that is printed, the printing
itself, and the elimination of a scene
during editing) can have an adverse
effect on their destiny, and the
communication of the message with
which they were entrusted at the
preparational stage. However, the light
accompanies them every step of the
way, embracing them, accentuating
them, attenuating or cancelling. And it
is the light, as well as the camera lens,
that succeeds in communicating with a
detail or colour, the motivations of an
entire world, be it great or small.
It is not easy for the costumes to come
through all these tests with flying
colours: the role they play in the
interpretation of the story and
communicating the psychobgy of the
character will sometimes only be
partially successful, maybe less than
was hoped, but this will be
compensated by their being further
being expressed by movement and the
different rhythms, which will result in
their being communicated and
appreciated more fully.
What 1 like to see in the photography
is a merging of the traditional world of
the craftsman and the hi-tech world.
Working more and more in the cinema
in these last few years, 1 have to take
into consideration an image which is
constantly being improved upon, the
use of high speed film and cameras
which are more and more sophisticated
— not to mention HDTV which is more
merciless with one's work,
communicates it in more detail.
However, in the end it all comes down
to content, the choices that were made,
the thoughts that went into them, the
story of humanity.
In this era in which technological
advancement proceeds at a rate which
there is no stopping, and the world is
being flooded with images that are no
longer stimulating, I hope, because 1
work with these images, that
technology will always be at the service
of ideas, and that we will never cease
striving to express ourselves both
spiritually arid poetically through the
image.
Otherwise, what sense is there talking
about form, space colour and light?